Jonathan Seidman
{{short description|American geneticist}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name =
| image =
| birth_date =
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| citizenship =
| nationality =
| fields =
| workplaces = {{plainlist|
}}
| education =
| alma_mater = {{plainlist|
}}
| known_for =
| awards =
| spouse = Christine Seidman
| children = 3
}}
Jonathan G. Seidman is the Henrietta B. and Frederick H. Bugher Foundation Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School. He operates a joint lab with his wife, Christine Seidman, where they study genetic mechanisms of heart disease.
Career
Jonathan Seidman grew up in Norwalk, Connecticut and went to high school in Ghana. He studied biochemistry at Harvard University, graduating in 1971. In 1975, he completed his PhD in molecular biology at the University of Wisconsin.{{cite web |title=Research, marriage link singular duo - The Boston Globe |url=http://archive.boston.com/news/science/articles/2007/09/03/research_marriage_link_singular_duo/ |website=archive.boston.com |accessdate=6 May 2019 |language=en}}
After doing postdoctoral research at the National Institute of Health in the lab of Philip Leder, he began working at Harvard Medical School in 1981.{{cite web |title=Paul D. Lamson Lecture |url=https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/pharmacology/department-events/paul-d-lamson-lecture/ |website=Vanderbilt University |accessdate=6 May 2019 |language=en}} He is now the Henrietta B. and Frederick H. Bugher Foundation Professor of Genetics.{{cite web |title=Jonathan Seidman {{!}} Harvard Catalyst Profiles {{!}} Harvard Catalyst |url=https://connects.catalyst.harvard.edu/Profiles/display/Person/60374 |website=connects.catalyst.harvard.edu |accessdate=6 May 2019}} He was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator from 1988-2005.{{cite web |title=Jonathan G. Seidman |url=https://www.hhmi.org/scientists/jonathan-g-seidman |website=HHMI.org |accessdate=6 May 2019 |language=en}}
The Seidman lab researches the genetics involved in diseases such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and was recognized for discovering the first genetic cause of congenital heart defects.{{cite web |title=Jonathan Seidman |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/2538535.html |website=www.nasonline.org |accessdate=5 May 2019}}{{cite web |title=Genetic Causes of Human Heart Disease |url=https://www.hhmi.org/research/genetic-causes-human-heart-disease |website=HHMI.org |accessdate=5 May 2019 |language=en |archive-date=5 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505230314/https://www.hhmi.org/research/genetic-causes-human-heart-disease |url-status=dead }}
Beginning in 2009, the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology has awarded the Seidman Prize for MD Research Mentorship in honor of him and his wife.{{cite web |title=Seidman Prize for MD Research Mentorship {{!}} Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology |url=https://hst.mit.edu/people/faculty/awards/seidman-prize-md-research-mentorship |website=hst.mit.edu |accessdate=5 May 2019 |archive-date=5 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505230326/https://hst.mit.edu/people/faculty/awards/seidman-prize-md-research-mentorship |url-status=dead }}
Personal life
Seidman's parents were Ann Seidman and Robert B. Seidman, respectively an economist and law and development scholar. The Seidmans were among several who established one of the first interracial planned communities on the East Coast of the US, at Village Creek in Norwalk, Connecticut in the 1950s. Jonathan Seidman and some of his four siblings were born there. The settlement exists to this day.{{cite web|url=http://www.philnel.com/2015/07/04/villagecreek/|title=Created Equal: The Planned Integrated Community of Village Creek, Conn.}}{{cite web|url=https://www.connecticutmag.com/the-connecticut-story/village-of-light/article_4d696d18-634b-5708-b439-7e660e9dffc9.html|title=Village of Light|first=Alan|last=Bisbort|website=Connecticut Magazine}} The family then moved around Africa, teaching at the University of Ghana and other institutions.
Seidman met his wife, Christine Seidman, while they were students at Harvard, and they were married in 1973. They operate a joint lab at Harvard and are both founding members of MyoKardia. In 2002, they shared the Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement in Cardiovascular Research. They have three children.{{cite web |title=Jonathan and Christine Seidman |url=https://harvardmagazine.com/2002/11/jonathan-and-christine-s.html |website=Harvard Magazine |accessdate=5 May 2019 |language=en |date=1 November 2002}}{{cite web |title=MyoKardia |url=https://www.myokardia.com/aboutfounders.php |website=www.myokardia.com |accessdate=5 May 2019}}
Awards
- 2002 Bristol-Myers Squibb Award
- 2007 Elected to the National Academy of Sciences{{cite web |title=Jonathan Seidman |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/2538535.html |website=www.nasonline.org |accessdate=6 May 2019}}
- 2007 Elected to the National Academy of Medicine
- 2008 Katz Prize in Cardiovascular Research, Columbia University{{cite web |title=2008 Katz Prizes In Cardiovascular Research Announced |url=https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/2008-katz-prizes-cardiovascular-research-announced |website=Columbia University Irving Medical Center |accessdate=6 May 2019 |language=en |date=3 November 2008}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seidman, Jonathan}}
Category:People from Norwalk, Connecticut
Category:Howard Hughes Medical Investigators
Category:Members of the National Academy of Medicine
Category:Harvard University alumni
Category:Harvard Medical School faculty